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Four people were shot to death and two others wounded in a shooting and knife attack Thursday at an American Indian tribal headquarters in California, authorities said.

Alturas Police Chief Ken Barnes said 44-year-old Sherie Lash was taken into custody after allegedly opening fire at the Cedarville Rancheria Tribal Office and Community Centre in Alturas, about 89 kilometres south of the Oregon border and 56 kilometres west of the Nevada line.

Barnes said in a report carried by KRCR-TV that the four dead include a 19-year-old woman, a 30-year-old man, a 45-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man. The police chief said one victim is the tribe's leader.

Tribal members were meeting about evicting Lash, also known as Sherie Rhoades, and her son from the Rancheria which, according to its website, is a federally recognized tribe with 35 members, the police official said.

The station's report said that Lash, a former tribal leader, allegedly pulled out a gun and shot four people in the building and a fifth person who tried to flee. After running out of ammunition, she grabbed a butcher knife and stabbed another person.

One person escaped the building, covered in victims' blood, and ran to the Alturas police station to alert the authorities, the station reported.

When officers arrived, Barnes said, the suspect was outside the building, running and clutching a knife in her hands.

Police said the stabbing victim and one of the shooting victims were taken to a local hospital.

The bodies of the deceased are still in the building, authorities said.